UEFA Champions League 2011

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We are finally down to out last 4 teams in the UEFA Champions League, arguably the best football tournament in the World, and we have 4 great teams involved all of them making strong cases to take home the big trophy.

Schalke 04 vs Manchester United
After a dominant performance against Italian Stallion FC Internazionale Milano German Schalke 04 is considered the weakest of the 4 teams left. Heck, they were underdogs entering the Quarter-finals but put that status to rest as they took Inter to the woodshed behind a 5-2 victory at San Ciro. This game started off in favor of the Nerazurri after a near midfield goal by Stankovic but it was downhill from there as Schalke took complete control of the match that they ended up winning by 3.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9nE2Zftr0ec]

The return match this past Wednesday in Germany was a mere formality as Inter needed nothing less than a miracle to advance. When it was all said and done, Schalke pulled off a 2-1 victory for a 7-3 aggregate.
For a team that, according to the experts, had no chance of making it passed the Quarterfinals Schalke comes in with no pressure as they have exceed expectations.

On the other side of the field will be Manchester United that been nothing short of a machine in the first quarter of 2011. They come of two convincing victories over Chelsea, the first one coming at Stamford Bridge by a 1-0 score in what was a solid, yet not very appealing match; the 1-0 win put ManU in the drivers seat and they had an extra advantage by virtue of the visiting goal.
The return match was much more entertaining and saw Manchester take advantage on a goal scored by Chicharito Hernandez -not that I'm totally biased because I'm Mexican, but this kid is the real deal and has a ton of upside and potential- and took control of the match until the 77th minute were Drogba scored on a laser that Van der Sar could not keep out; things were looking up for Chelsea but less than a minute later Park scored what proved to be the final nail in the coffin for Chelsea

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJs3kPHRNK4]

Most betting sites are heavily favoring Manchester United to move on to the final stage of the Cup, I'm also picking them to move on but the Schalke will not go down without a huge fight. It will be interesting to see how the 1st leg works out since they will play in Germany where the club led by Raúl will have to pull out a win and in the process try to shut-out one of the most potent offenses in Europe.
I'm looking for Schalke to come out attacking in the 1st match and try to establish their style on the match, not sure if that will be possible with a team as strong as the Red Devils. By playing aggressive and attacking a lot they will heavily rely on a solid defense that can cover Rooney and Chicharito or Berbatov mostly one on one to free up people in midfield and on the other side of the field. With all that being said I expect, in the best case scenario for Schalke, a tie in this game.
For the match at Old Trafford I expect Man U to come up with the big W and thus advancing to the Finals which will be played in their country (Wembley Stadium in London on May 28).
Result: Manchester United advances.

Real Madrid vs FC Barcelona
Real Madrid comes into this semi-final stage after emphatically beating Tottenham by a 5-0 aggregate. This was pretty much in the books after the first 15 minutes of the match that saw Madrid take a 1-0 lead in the 4th minute via a Adebayor header and Hotspur forward Peter Crouch shown a red card at the 15th. For the rest of the match Real did what they pleased and managed to score 3 more goals.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mB3BQj2ZJfk]

As was the case with Schalke - Inter, this game was a mere formality and Madrid took the match 1-0 after a gol by Cristiano Ronaldo following a shot that was brutally mishandled by Tottenham goalkeeper Gomes. In the end the better team won both matches by shutouts and we ended up with a 5-0 total

Madrid will be opposed by longtime rival, and a team they have lost to the last 5 meetings, FC Barcelona who is coming of a couple of matches with Ukrainian Shakhtar which they easily won. The first leg was at beautiful Camp Nou in Barcelona taken by a 5-1 result after a quick goal in the 2nd minute by Iniesta, and took a 2-0 lead to halftime. After a goal by Piqué, Shakhtar showed some life by scoring a goal at 60. In the end Barcelona took a commanding lead they would not relinquish in the return match.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w6uZlA6_Z4Y]

Seemed weird that only 1 of the 4 return matches was interesting (Manchester-Chelsea). Like the other 3, Barcelona came in just waiting for the final whistle to assure their spot in the semi-finals. Shakhtar didn't put up a fight and lost 0-1 after a 43rd minute gooooooooooool by, the best player in the world, Messi.

So this semi-final match will give us a total of 4 Real Madrid - Barcelona matches in a two week span (1 for La Liga, 1 for la Copa del Rey, and these 2 games). In the Champions League matches the 1st leg will be at Santiago Bernabeu were most of the betting sides are calling it right down the middle and I can't really decide on who will win (I know I want Barcelona to win), the result for this game I think will be heavily influenced by the result of the previous 2 games (Saturday the 16th at Bernabeu, and Wednesday the 20th at Mestalla, Valencia). I'm going to go out on a limb and pick Madrid with a 2-1 victory.
The return match to be played May the 3rd at Camp Nou will be a solid game but not spectacular -if my 2-1 prediction comes true- where Madrid will come out defending and Barcelona looking for the tying goal. In the end I see Barcelona picking up a 3-0 victory for a 4-2 aggregate.
Result: Barcelona advances.

A prediction for the Final of the UEFA Champions League? Well, that will have to wait for after the semifinals (wink wink Barcelona wink wink) and after making sure my previous picks were correct?

Who do you expect to win? Who do you want to win?

For now...

Mr Khakbaz out!!!